Pictured is flooding-related damage from July 1, 2017.
Pictured is flooding-related damage from July 1, 2017.

Ted Halpin

The ongoing flooding in the South and Madison County’s August tornadoes, July rainstorms and March snowstorm are powerful reminders of the need for individual, family and business emergency preparedness. September is National Preparedness Month and everyone should take inventory of their level of emergency preparedness.

Locally, Madison County is hosting a Governor’s Citizen’s Preparedness program Oct. 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Hamilton High School, 47 West Kendrick Ave., Hamilton. This will be a great opportunity to learn about emergency preparedness and about local emergency management programs. In addition, each household attending will receive a free backpack loaded with emergency supplies.

As played out on the news, nowhere can first responders be everywhere immediately. You have to take steps now to protect you and your family.

Be informed about emergencies that could happen in your community, and identify sources of information in your community that will be helpful before, during and after an emergency. Madison County’s Office of Emergency Management has a wealth of information on our website:https://www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/em.

Register in NYAlert to receive emergency notifications (https://users.nyalert.gov/).

Follow us on Twitter (MadisonCoNY_EM) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/PrepareRespondRecover).

Make a plan for what to do in an emergency. Great preparedness websites include:http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster and http://www.ready.gov/.

Build a kit. These same websites can help here. A good start will be the free emergency backpack given out free to each household at the Hamilton program.

Get involved.

  • Your local volunteer fire department and ambulance service are your first responders in disasters. More information on our local volunteers can be seen at: https://www.madcoheroes.com/ Support them in any manner possible.
  • The American Red Cross is an invaluable partner in disaster response. Donations to and volunteering for the ARC is important.
  • Does the place of worship or organization you belong to have a role in disaster response? Can your organization help support disaster victims in Madison County?

More information can be found by going to our website (https://www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/em) and/or emailing us at EM@madisoncounty.ny.gov. Remember also that Madison County OEM has free 10-year smoke alarms for residents who are in need of one.

By martha

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